Reversible motor control system



Filed Jul 26 INVENTOR.

Patented May 18, 1948 2,441,632 REVERSIBLE MOTOR CONTROL SYSTEM Knute Arnold Holst, Astoria, Long Island, N. Y., assignor to Pitometer Log Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 26, 1943, Serial No. 496,111

1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to apparatus for accurately indicating the speed of a rotating member and more particularly to apparatus of this nature which produces sufficient power so that, if desired, the speed may be indicated at one or more stations remotely located with respect to the member.

In accordance with my invention the rotating member is connected to drive a magneto, the

voltage output of which is directly proportional to its speed. This voltage is automatically balanced in a bridge circuit against a constant voltage, the adjustment of the bridge to give this balance being an indication of the voltage of the magneto, and consequently of the speed of the rotating member.

In the following description, my invention has been described as being used in connection with the speed indicator for a ship, but it will be understood that this has been done for the purpose of illustration only and that my invention may be applied to indicate the speed of any rotating member.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and of which Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a preferred embodiment of my invention; and i Fig. 2 is a simplified wirin diagram of the bridge circuit included in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, reference character l designates the bullet a ship through which extends a differential pitot member !2 of known form having a static pressure orifice l4 and a dynamic pressure orifice l6. Orifices l4 and I6 are connected by static and dynamic pressure lines 18 and 20, respectively, to chambers 22 and 24 on the opposite sides of a movable diaphragm which isrlgidly mounted on the shaft 36, while the lower end of the bellows carries a race 44 of a thrust bearing. The other race 46 of this bearingis rigidly secured to the upper end of pin 39.

An arm 48 is pivotally mounted on standard 59 26 mounted in a casing 28, A pin 3E! is attached 2 and at its lefthand end, as viewed in Fig. 1, is provided with a slot 52 which cooperates with a pin 54 extending at right angles from pin 30. The opposite end of arm 48 carries an electric contact 56 which is movable between fixed contacts 58 and 60.

Current for operating motor 34 is supplied from the conductors 62 and 64. Conductor 62 is connected directly to one terminal of the motor, while a rheostat 66 is connected in series with the conductor 64. The rheostat includes a resistance coil 68 and contact arm iii. Arm it! may be rotated in either direction through suitable gearing by means of a reversing motor 12, This motor is supplied with current from the conductors 62 and 64. A conductor 14 connects the pivoted arm 48 to the control box of the motor 12 while conductors 16 and I8 connect the fixed contacts 58 and respectively to the control box. As is well known, the connections are such that when a circuit is closed through contacts 56 and 58 the motor 12 rotates in one direction and when a circuit is closed through the contacts 56 and 6! the motor rotates in the opposite direction. The motor is stationary when both of these circuits are open.

The apparatus described above is previously known, and is fully described in my copending application, Serial No. 481,928, filed April 5, 1943, issued August 29, 1944, as Patent No. 2,357,199, and it operates as follows:

When the ship is stationary in the Water, the pressures communicated through orifices l4 and I6 and conduits I 8 and 2i! to the opposite sides of the diaphragm 26 are the same. However, when the ship moves forward in the direction of the arrow, the dynamic pressure communicated through the orifice l6 increases while the static pressure communicated through the orifice l4 remains the same. This results in an unbalance of the pressures acting on the diaphragm 26 and consequently the diaphragm is raised by the increased dynamic pressure in the chamber 24. This pivots the arm 48 in a clockwise direction so as to complete a circuit through the contacts 56 and 60, causing the motor 12 to operate inthe proper direction to turn the rheostat arm ill so as to close the circuit through the rheostat. This supplies current to the variable speed motor 34 causing it to rotate the bellows 4c. This bellows is filled with liquid, the rotation of which developscentrifugal force. The nature of the bellows is such that this force tends to expand the bellows in an axial direction, thus producing a force which is transmitted through the thrust bearing to the pin 30, which force tends to balance the force applied to the pin by the diaphragm 26. When the motor a l attains sumcient speed so that the centrifugal force balances the force from the diaphragm, the arm 48 is pivoted so as to open the circuit between the contacts 55 and 60, thus stopping the motor 12. The rheostat arm 18 is therebystoppedand the resistance in the circuit of motor 34 remains constant. Consequently, this motor now runs at a constant speed.

Should the speed of the ship decrease, the dynamic force acting on the lower side of .the diaphragm 26 decreases and consequently the centrifugal force produced by .therotation :oftheibellows predominates and hencethe pin'3fijis moved downwardly with the result that a circuit through the contacts 56 and 58 is completed. .Thisoauses rotation of the motor I2 in a direction which increases the resistance in the circuit of motoriii i, thus slowing down this motor until a balance is again-obtained.

Consequently, the ZSDBGd OfIIIOtOF 3.4 is directly proportional to the speed of the ship.

. In-order to. accurately determinethe .speediof motor .34, -not onl immediately adjacent to the motor, but at one or more remote stations throughout the ship, thearmature shaft :is con- .nected eitherdirectly orithrough suitablegearing '80. to a :magneto .82. The terminalsrof this magn'etoareconnected.bymeanszof conductors 84' and :86 to'the opposite ends-ofa-resistance 88. Refer- ..ence character 9.0 designatesgazrheostat, the :ter-

.-mina-ls .cf'whichzareconnected -by means of .conductors 92 and 94 with a-suitable constant voltage supply. One end of resistance-88 is 'connected'by :means :ofa-conductor 95 with conductor 92 and vhence with one end of thetrheostat 90. A-con- =ductor 98 connects a tap atanintermediate turn -of-resistance88 with one terminal of a coil Hill .in a contact making galvanometer designated generally :by reference .character :I e2. Theother terminal of this coil isconnected .bysconductor-l with the contact arm 10,5 of the rheostat Bil.

The pointer 1.08 .of the 'galvan ometer 'carries a contact-III] which .is-movable between fixed con- -.tacts I.I2 and -I.I4. Contacts I I0, 112 and II4-are connected by conductors H5, H8 and IE with the-control box :of areversing motor-I-22. This motor, through suitable gearing including aeshaft I24 drives the contact arm M36 of the rheostat 99. .Motor I22.is supplied with current from the lines .62.and.64.

-.Galvanometer 1.52 is provided with amagnetic .reset whichrepeatedly returns the ,pointer 188 to its .neutralposition .in .orderto prevent overeregu- -.lation. .As shown .diagrammaticallylthis includes .a .pair .of bell-crank levers I25 disposed-on opposite..sides of the .pointer.and urgedaway from thepointerby means .ofsprings 128. .A plunger L30 engages .thehorizontal arms oflevers 1.26 and extends within .a solenoid. 1.32, the arrangement being .such that when thesolenoidis energized .th.e,.,p lun ger is pulled downwardly, thus ,pivoting the .arms I26 toward the pointer I08. .If the .pointer. .is .out of its neutral position .because .of current flowing through .the coil 115.0, one or the other of the arms-I26 strikes thepointer. and returnsittoneutral.

The solenoid I32 .is supplied. with electric .irn pulses through the. conductorslaii and IE6 .from an impulse. generator 138. This generator includesan iron corejIllaround onelegof which is wounda coil 1'42 to Which 'the conductors I 34 and I36 are. connected. "Rotatably mounted'between the ends of core I 40isadisc I44 which carries a permanent'bar magnet 146. Disc I 44 is pro- ..d11ct0rs,..this...rhe0stat and its regulating motor E22 'maybe located anywhere in the ship, If it .is-.desired to indicate the speed at additional 10- ecations, ithispmay-sbe done by the use of Selsyn motorsinasmuchas the reversing motor I22 may beaspowerful as desired. As illustrated, a gear .from .the conductors .62 and 64.

'I60is mounted on the shaft I24 and drives a gear vI.52: secured to the shaft of a SeLsyn motor I 64 which constitutes a sending motor. The stator of this-motor maybeconnected to the stators of one or morereceiving-Selsyns I56 by meansof the .three phase line I68,v the rotors of the Sclsyn motors being supplied with alternating current Motor I66 through .suitable gearing drives a pointer Ill! which cooperates with a scale I72 calibrated in .thesamemanneras scale I53. As is well known, the armature shaftof the Selsyn motor I68 will fol1ow..the.shaft of motor 154 as the latter is 1'0- tated'by theshaft I24. Consequently, the ratios of the variousgears beingproperly selected, the vpointer I70 will always register the same as the pointerilfifi.

The above described deviceoperates as follows:

The magneto'82 being positively driven by the motor34,.r otates ata speed directly proportional .to'thatofthemotor. Itis assumed that the output ofthe magneto 82 at maximum speed .is 12 volts, while the current supplied through the conductors .92 and 19 .is maintained at a constant 5 Volts. .The tap on .the resistance '88 to which the conductor'98 is connected is so selected that when the .outputof themagneto is.12 volts, the voltage acrossthe conductors 136 and 98 is 5 volts. In other .wordathis voltage isnever greater than the constant 5 volts supplied through the conductors 92 and 94. A simplified wiringdiagram of the bridge made up of the resistance 88, the .rheostat 9!) and the coil *Iiill of the galvanometer I 52 is shown in Fig 2. From this it will be see that with a constant voltage applied tothe ends of the rheostat 9i}, thebridge maybe balanced by properly adjusting the contact arm Hi6 so that no current flows through the coil I95 of the galvanometer, and hence the pointer H38 remains in .its neutral position. Under these conditions, if the speed o'fthe motor 34 increases in order to .balance an increase in the dynamic pressure exerted on the diaphragm .26, as previously ex- .plained, the .speed of the magneto'82 is also increased and hence its voltage output isincreased. This results in unbalancing the bridge and there- 1fore'current'fiows in one direction through the coil I00. :Thisjin turn results in a deflection of the .needle IIJ8ythus closing the circuit through the contact :I I0 and one of the fixed contacts, for instance, the contact H2. This inturn causes the motor I22 to rotate, thus turning the contact-arm H36 ,in the proper direction to restore the balance of the bridge, andhencethe setting of'the arm I06 'bears a definite relationship to the speed of the magneto 82. As abovestated, the scale I53 maybe calibrated so as to indicate this speed in R..JP .':M. or 'it maybe calibrated so as 'to indicate directly the speed of the ship, inasmuch as the latter is directly proportional to the speed of the magneto.

Should the speed of the ship, and hence the speed of the magneto 82 decrease, current will flow through the coil I in the opposite direction, thus causing deflection of the needle I08 so as to close the circuit through the contacts I I0 and I I4. This causes the motor I22 to rotate in the opposite direction from that previously assumed, and hence the arm I is driven in the opposite direction so as to restore the balance or the bridge.

Whenever the motor I22 is rotating, the disc 152 is rotated through the gearing I54. The pin I50, which is fixed to the disc I52 moves within the slot I48 until it strikes one end of the latter, whereupon the disc I44 and the bar magnet I45 are caused to rotate with the disc I52. From the position of the parts shown in Fig. 1, this rotation is at first resisted by the magnetic attraction of the magnet I46 for the core I40. However, as soon as the magnet has been turned through slightly more than 90, the attraction of the magnet ior the core accelerates the rotation of the former through the next 90. Inasmuch as the slot I48 has a span of more than 90, the disc I44 and the magnet I46 may so accelerate with re spect to the pin I50 and disc I52. The properties of the impulse generator I38 are so chosen that when the magnet I40 is being driven by the disc I52, its speed of rotation is not high enough to induce a sufficient current in the coil I42 to actuate the plunger I30. However, when the magnet turns at the accelerated rate, as above described, sufiicient current is induced in the coil I42 to produce enough magnetic force in the solenoid I32 to pull the plunger I30 down, thus pivoting the arms I26 so as to reset the pointer I08 to its neutral position against any deflecting force caused by the flow of current through the coil I00. Consequently, as long as the motor I22 is rotating, a series of electric impulses are supplied to the solenoid I32 and hence the pointer I08 is continuously reset to its neutral position, thus preventing over-regulation. On'the other hand, whenever the motor I22 is stationary no impulse 6 is supplied and consequently unnecessary wear of the resetting mechanism in the galvanometer is avoided.

In view of the fact that the reversing motor I22 may be designed to develop as much power as desired, it may be employed to actuate suitable speed control mechanism to maintain the speed of the ship constant.

While I have shown and described one preferred embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that this has been done for the purpose of illustration only and that the scope of my invention is not to be limited thereby, but is to be determined from the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A reversible motor control system comprising a reversible motor, a galvanometer relay, connections between said motor and said relay, means for periodically resetting said relay during continuing operations of said motor comprising electromagnetic means for moving the armature of said relay to mid position, an electric impulse generator driven by said motor, and conductor means for supplying electrical impulses from said generator to said electromagnetic means whereby the latter is operated to reset said relay only when said motor is running.

KNUTE ARNOLD I-IOLST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

- UNITED STATES PATENTS 

